My notes on things I make for myself and for the enjoyment of my family and friends

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I gave these fine stockings to my son’s girlfriend for Christmas to go with her historical clothing (they are both into historical re-enactment and a lot of sewing… but I have the privilege of having been appointed knitter and lacemaker 😉 ) The yarn is a wool and tussah silk blend, knitted with 1,75mm needles – the thinnest ones I’ve ever used. A year ago I knitted a similar pair for my son and did some research. The model for these stockings is from the net site of the Swedish Royal Armoury. The old “hose” date back to about 1650, the gauge is much finer and they are made of pure silk.

Unlike the socks I made for my son these are knitted from the top down. I started with 16 rows of garter stitch, 30 stitches per needle. 5 stitches wide purl triangles run down next to the 6 stitches of the back seam. In the original stocking the decreases are made next to the purl stitches but here they are inside the motif which makes the triangles sloop down a little. The clock decoration at the ankle is my own adaptation. The heel flap starts quite high up which makes more room for the upper ankle.

The colour is quite a deep yellow, much like the one my son achieved dyeing a thick wool cloth with onion skins. The light conditions at this time of year just won’t do justice to the intensity of the colour!

These felted handbags are quick to make and easy to “wear”, simple but very versatile.

The black one is years old and decorated with a “built-in” reflector (you can see more similar reflectors here). It also has a zipper at the top. The ones with a flap have a big snap fastener sewn on.

Here are two bags before felting. To make one start knitting with a couple of rows of garter stitch, then switch to plain stitch increasing the width slightly towards the bottom of the bag. Continue back up, decreasing this time to make a symmetrical back piece. At the top knit twice as many rows of garter stitch as in the beginning and cast off. Turn half of the garter stitch rows to the inside and hem together. This will make the top a little sturdier when felted and the bag won’t sag in the middle so easily. If you want you can add a wooden pin or something inside to make sure. Continue by crocheting a flap, anything that resembles half of a doily. Sew the sides together. Knit a handle about 5-6 stitches wide and attach the ends to the top of the bag. Sew a little plastic bag inside to prevent the back and front from felting together. Above are two bags before they were felted in the washing machine. A free pattern for a very similar bag can be found here.

If you leave the flap out you can decorate the bag in any way you fancy. The materials aren’t expensive so make one in every colour! Or turn one into an evening clutch by knitting it into an envelope shape and decorating with beads or lace.

I knitted this pair of socks in autumn colours for my father in law. The striped sole is quite sturdy and I expect it to stand up to wear quite well. On either side of the heel flap I used a crochet hook to pick up the yarn between the stitches. This way I got a tight cast on row for both sides. I also did some short rows at the end of the the flap to get a rounder heel. The pattern is modified from a free Drops pattern, link here. The yarn is Drops Fabel knitted with 2.5mm needles, 20 stitches/needle.

Here’s a pair of socks I knitted for my son to go with his 17th century historical costume. Searching the internet for references I stumbled on many fascinating sites about the history of knitting. One of them was a blog called Global Encounters, by Paula Hohti, a finnish historian, textile researcher and professor of Art and Culture History at Aalto University in Helsinki. In her interesting blog I found a picture of a 17th century knitted stocking from the collection of the National Museum of Copenhagen, a perfect model for these socks. More explanations of my version in English at the end of the post.

This was the first time I tried knitting socks from toe up. The toe part is assymetrical so there are more increases on the outer side of the sock. The decoration at the ankle is made with purl stitches. There are increases along the centrer back at the calf and knee. The sock comes to about ten centemeters above the knee and is meant to be fastened with a band just under the knee. I used some thin wool that I’ve inherited from an old relative of my husband’s. She kept sheep and the yarn was spun many years ago from her own wool which she had also dyed with some natural dyes. Perfect for this project as it was as authentic a material as historical re-enacters could wish for!

Scouting for information I found a wonderful site called Knitting History Forum if you’re interested to find out more about the subject.

Over easter I made this mobile pouch. My daughter needed one quick (mobiles without a cover are very prone to injury as you probably well know) so she chose some wool from my left over yarn stash and out with the big needles. Felting is one of my favourite techniques and the soft shell around her mobile will hopefully protect it a little longer.

The piece to be felted needs to be much bigger than the finished item since it shrinks about 40 %. I cast on twenty stitches with 4,5 mm needles and knitted to the height of about 35 cm. The end was narrowed slightly by casting off three stitches at the beginning of each row. Without cutting off the yarn I crocheted a button loop in the middle of the flap and continued to crochet the sides together. To do the felting you just need to wet the piece with warm water and knead it in your hands with some soap. Rince in between with cold water and repeat as many times as you need to get to the size you want. After the pouch had dried it was a little too small so I added some rows of crochet to elongate it a little and make the upper end rounder and more closed. I also crocheted a pocket to fit a credit card. This soft woolly coat will hopefully save my daughter’s mobile from a few bumps along the way!

My mother-in-law is born on Christmas day. This time we celebrated round numbers and were told not to bring gifts if they were not hand made. I scouted for a pretty shawl pattern and found this on Ravelry. It´s the Twig and Leaf design by Anne Hanson. A thank you gift to a very inspirational and significant figure in my life, who by the way holds a degree in textile design.

This is Foxy, an adorable Basenji who lives with my son and his girlfriend. She is wearing the jumper I made her to match the one I knitted for my son a few years ago. It’s a modified version of a Drops pattern.